Hand truck



Apfil 12, 1938. T. w. YEATS 2,113,780

HAND TRUCK Filed 061;. 7, 1936 [N VEN TOR A TTORNE Y Thomas W W207i? Patented Apr. 12.1 933 2,113,780

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I animso I l new Thomas W. Yeats, itong Beach, Calif.

ApplicationQctuberJ, 1936, Serial No. 104,455

' i @ialm. (Cl. 280--56) My invention relates to hand trucks of the twohaving in carrying position thereon a refrigerawheelcd type used for transporting refrigerators, tor.

stoves or other articles of like weight and bulk. Fig. 2 is a view showing the hand truck in When using the conventional hand truck great rear elevation and in vertical position, the secura dimculty is encountered in loading any heavy ing strap being broken away. v g and large article thereon because it is necessary Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the to hold the article against the truck while tiltline 3-3 of Fig. 2. 1 ing the latter from a vertical position to an in- Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view clined or rolling position. When transporting taken on the line ii-Q of Fig. 2. it) the article by the truck there is the ever present Referring Sp fi y ii the drawing, my i it possibility of the article falling from the truck vention in its present embodiment comprises a especially when ascending or descending stairme including t S members i5 which y Ways or steps of any character. Further, when he made of wood and slightly tapered in width unloading the article from the truck, likewise it f he lower ends upward 50 that their pp i is necessary to hold the article against the truck ends can be gripped by the hands of the cperait i as the latter is brought to'a vertical position to r in he manipulation of the truck. The memprevent the article from falling from the truck. hers are Secured in Spaced parallelism y an Also, when lifting the loaded truck onto a van uppe e rod 65 and a lower tie rod it, both suror other elevated support, the services of two rounded between the members y p p it d m men are required, one to slide the truck frame respectively, either of Which s a pt d to be w up the edge of the van and the other toshift the pp y the flpel'ator in the pu tion of truck and its load laterally to cause the truci: truck wheels and their supports to pass or clear the Connecting the s de members it beneath the edgebf the pipe it are two beams 2t and 29 which may be It is because of these difficulties that the servmad-e of Wood and mined Otherwise secured 2b .ices f t more men are required t load, at their ends to the confronting sides of the memtransport and unload an article without damagbers- At the forward e Of the truck irame m it. I the side members it are formed at spaced points t i purpos of my invention t provide with two recesses in which planks or boards it at hand truck of-the two-wheeled type having Sim and it are secured, these planks being o a len th so ple d ff t means b which any large and to span the side members and of a thickness to heavy article such as a refrigerator or stove, can lie flush With the from? edge O e members. by a single operator b fixedly secured to the These planks are directly in advance of the beams truck to facilitate loading, transporting and un it and ii and may be secured e e o to coach loading, all in a manner to prevent accidental therewith ill-maintaining the Side be s ri 35 displacement of the article from the truck and idly Spaced. and also to reinforce the beams resultant damage thereto. nu m Which Will become appa e as the It is also a purpose of my invention to provide description proceedshand truck in m the positioning of the Fixed in and extending through the lower ends 40 wheels with relation to the truck frame and the the side members 55 is axle 25 the 40 contour of the truck fr m are Such that y site ends of which are Journaled rubber tired permit the truck when loaded to be tilted with wheels The ward edges 0f the side bers at the lower ends thereof may be recessed mmimum physical lefiort to a rolling position from a vertical or nomromng position, and to as 1l1ustrated to accommodate one portion 21 of 4 an angle bar which is suitably secured to the side allow 3 of the loaded truck onto members. .The other portion 28 of the angle bar mg i or other elevated. support Without the extends forwardly from the side members to pronecessity of laterally shifting the truck in order Vide a up positioned at right angles to the from to cause the truck wheels to pass onto the V dges of the side members at their lower ends,

I W111 descritfe y one M hand truck and upon which an article to be carried by the 50 embodying my invention and Will then point out truck is supported I the novel features'tPeleQf e claim- As bestshown in Fig. 3, the lower end portions In the a ompa yi -d w of the, rear edges of the side members are curved Fig. l is a view showing in side elevation one forwardly to the front edges of the members so form of hand truck embodying my invention, and that the lip 28 is at a tangent thereto. In rela- 55 tion to these curved edges the axle 2B is positioned in the side members to,support the wheels 26 so thattheir lowermost points are in a plane slightly above the plane of the lip 23 when the latter is in horizontal position, such planes being illustrated by the lines L anl L in Fig. '8. Also. the mounting of the wheels is,such that their vertical transverse axes are in advance of the straight portions of the rear edges of the side members and to the rear of the lower ends of the curved portions of such edges. The purpose of this particular arrangement of wheels, lip, and frame edges, will be described hereinafter.

The rear edges of the side members I! are protected against wear by metal strips 29 secured to the side members by screws 30 and co-extensive in length therewith. Substantially medially of the upper beam 20. The upper end of the shaft is squared, as indicated at'3l to receive a ratchet wrench by which the shaft canbe rotated in either direction. This shaft in effect forms a reel, and as shown in Fig. 4, one .end of the strap 32 is riveted or otherwise secured to the shaft 33, while its other end is normallyfree to permit the extension of the strap around any article to be I carried by the truck and subsequently folded between 'the convolutions of the fixed end of the strap as wound on the shaft. In this manner the strap can be held in looped form at the forward side of thetru'ck frame to extend around the article to be carried.

To permit rotation of the shaft in a direction to wind the ends of the strap thereupon and yet prevent rotation of the shaft in the opposite direction to maintain a tension on the strap and thus securely hold an article upon the truck, I

provide a pawl and ratchet mechanism. This.

mechanism comprises a ratchet wheel 36 fixed to the shaft 33 just beneath the upper beam 20, and a pawl 31 in the form of a bolt slidable in a sleeve 38 having base plate 39 secured to the plank 23. The pawl or bolt '31 is urged by a spring 40 into an advanced position in which it engages the teeth of the wheel 36. This pawl is slidable in a sleeve 38, and in the advanced position thereof the shaft 33 is secured against rotation to prevent unwinding of the strap. By means of an arm 4| fixed to the pawl 31 and movable in a slot 42 of the sleeve 38, the pawl can be manually retracted to disengage the wheel 36 by partial rotation of the pawl to a position in which the arm engages within the recess 43 at the end of the slot. To prevent marring of any article when in position upon the truck, the forwardedges of the side members 15 as well as the planks 23 and 24 are covered with any suitable feltor other fabric 44. 7 I In practice, to load on the truck for carrying an article such as the refrigerator shown injFig. 1, the truck when in tilted position with the free end of the strap detached from the shaft and frame is in vertical position.

withdrawn from the respective slot, is advanced to the article and the latter tilted to permit the lip 23 to be extended beneath the article. By first bringing the truck to a vertical position in which the point ofsDpD rt of the truck frame passes from the-wheels to the lip 28, the lip can be extended beneath the tilted article and the latter lowered onto the lip. The strap is now looped about the article and its free end restrained through the respective slot and then inserted between the convolutions of the secured strap -end. Thus, upon rotating the shaft 33 by tion and without fear of the article being 'displaced from the truck. By reason of the fact that the lip 28 is at a tangent to'the curve defined by the lower rear edges of the side members, and the wheels at their lowermost peripheral points are only slightly above the plane of the lip, only slight rearward tilting of the truck is necessary to transfer the point of support back to the wheels. During this operation the curved rear edges of the frame members act-as cams to elevate the truck and its load onto the wheels.

To unload the article fromthe truck, the truck frame is restored to vertical position and with it the article, so that all that is necessary to remove the article is to remove the strap therefrom and then withdraw the supporting lip from beneath the article. Manifestly the article can be placed upon the truck carried and removed therefrom by a single operator.

To raise the truck and'its load from one support to a higher support such as when loading the truck onto a moving van or ascending a step or stairway, the truck is pulled upwardly over the edgepf the upper support with the strips 20 sliding thereon, until the wheels 26 are reached when, by virtue of the fact that the vertical transverse axes of the wheels are forwardly of the rear edges of the side frame members, further pulling movement causes the wheels to roll over the edge of the support and onto the support. Thus is eliminated shifting of the truck and its load laterally and outwardly from the support to permit the truck wheels to pass over the support edge, as is necessary with hand trucks as previously constructed.

I claim:

A hand truck, comprising; a frame including a pair of side members having front edges and continuous and straight rear edges curved at their lower'ends inwardly to the front edges; a supporting lip secured to the side members and projecting from the lower ends of the front edges of the members at a tangent to the curved ends of the rearedges; and a pair of wheels mounted on the frame at the lower ends pf said members so that their peripheries are rearwardly'of the rear edges of the members and above but in close proximity to the plane of THOMAS w. YEATS;

said lip when the 

